July 10, 2010

The HTC Desire Android 2.2 update is a few months away yet. However, if you are willing to root your HTC Desire now, you can grab the unofficial update that has just been launched.

The good news with the HTC Desire Android 2.2 update is that it works very well according to those at XDA Developers with only a small amount of bugs. These bugs include no wallpapers, geolocalization not always working well and sometimes a reboot for unknown reasons. Although the last could be a problem, it seems like it isn't that often to cause worry and it would get you Android 2.2 on your Desire now.

If you plan on installing the update then make sure you follow the instructions found over here that give a warning on occasion to watch out for certain things such as not touching the phone during part of the update even though the phone reboots several times.

Let us know if you manage to install the update and if it works better than Android 2.1.

The OS from Google [GOOG] called Android is making quite an impact in the smartphone arena.

Numbers indicated that the Android platform grew 44 percent between February and May. The three months prior to that saw Android taking about 9 percent share of the US smartphone market. With the Android OS growing 44 percent the three months after that, the market share jumped up to 13 percent.

Thirteen percent isn't a huge number, but at the same time the four percent increase over a quarter shows the rate at which Android is moving. If the growth rate keeps up, which it can due to the sheer number of high end handsets being launched, then this time next year will show Android with a larger market share.

The main reason the iPhone isn't growing at the same rate is due to the restrictions in the US. Right now it's only available on AT&T [T] and is likely to stay on that network for another two years or so which gets rid of a potential 10 million or more users that Verizon [VZ] for example could bring. Also the iPhone is just a single handset (well, four in the series) whereas Android gets installed on many varieties of handsets from various manufacturers.

PCWorld has a more comprehensive look at how Android is growing and the iPhone staying the same. But one thing to remember is that Apple is by no means doing poor in the smartphone area.

July 5, 2010

The Samsung Galaxy S is a fantastic device that has not long been out. We now are starting to hear rumours of a new next-gen version of the smartphone that will be called the Samsung Galaxy S2. The Galaxy S2 is said to have a 2GHz processor. We hear the S2 will also have a 720p HD display that can display an impressive 1280 x 720 pixels. The screen will measure 4.3 inches.

We also hear that the Galaxy S2 will have 1GB of RAM and 4GB of ROM along with 32GB of storage space built in. More can be added by using a microSD if needed.

On the back is rumoured to be an 8 megapixel camera. Back on to the 2GHz processor. It is unclear at the moment if it will be two 1GHz chips or a single 2GHz processor. Either way, it sounds powerful and should add more kick to the already fast Galaxy S.

For connectivity the rumoured smartphone is said to have Bluetooth 3.0 and Wifi b/g/n. Sensors include a GPS, accelerometer and a gyroscope.

When launched it is said to run the next version of Android believed to be 3.0 and codenamed Gingerbread.

I'm not fully convinced the rumours are true at the moment as the retina display style PPI seems to be just an estimate based on the phone rendering above. Also the 2GHz CPU seems like a bit of a step up from the 1GHz devices we are seeing at the moment. Perhaps a 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz early next year, but 2GHz seems to be pushing it at the moment.

What are your thoughts? Will Samsung launch the Galaxy S2 with the above specs?

The computer mouse has advanced over the years by trimming down a little, becoming optical, becoming more responsive and becoming wireless to name a few advances. The next step is to get rid of the mouse altogether and have an invisible mouse, also known as Mouseless.

The concept was created by Pranav Mistry along with Patti Maes and Liyan Chang and basically gets rid of the mouse completely.

By using an IR sensor with some custom software, the movements of a hand on a desk can be interpreted in to mouse and finger movement allowing users to simple glide their hand on a desk and tap the desk with their finger.

The IR sensor sits on the back of a laptop and detects movement to the side of the laptop. By skimming the IR beam across the desk the software can pick up where the signal is cut off and calculate where your hand is and move the mouse pointer appropriately.

The system costs just $20 to build which is interesting and would allow laptop users to more comfortably work as well as carry less around when out and about.

The video below shows a demonstration of how the software works and how accurate it is. It's fairly impressive stuff and would be good for companies to adopt in the future.

July 1, 2010

Sony has released a firmware update for both the Sony NEX-3 and the Sony NEX-5 digital camera. The firmware brings a new 3D sweep panorama mode to the cameras allowing several pictures to be taken and then stitched together ready for a 3DTV to display the shots.

Full details haven't been provided just yet on how exactly it will work, but from what we hear the camera, when put in 3D panorama mode, can be used to sweep around a scene with Sony's firmware converting those captured images to 3D.

The cameras themselves were only just recently launched and are about the size of a Cybershot point and shoot camera with a large DSLR lens attached on the front. Inside a 14.2 megapixel sensor can be found and each camera uses the Sony E-Mount lens system. To use other Alpha lenses you can buy an adapter to convert them over.

When we get some samples or details of exactly how 3D panoramas will work on the Sony NEX-X cameras, we'll provide an update.

The iPhone 4 bumper case is simply a bit or plastic or rubber that stretches around the outer edges of the phone and protects the glass from touching surfaces as well as protecting the edges of the phone.

The Vapor4 is exactly the same in that it covers the edges of the iPhone 4 and protects it... but the difference here is that the Vapor4 actually looks amazingly nice.

As well as looking good, it will also fix the antenna issues with the iPhone 4 when in bad signal areas. It achieves this by lining the insides of the aluminium casing with a material that prevents the antenna from touching the casing, thus your hand cant break the signal. In tests the company found no interference.

The case has all the right sections cut out allowing you to attach the dock connector, power it on and off and access volume etc... Overall it's very impressive.

The downside is that the Vapor4 isn't the cheapest case around. It actually makes the expensive iPhone 4 bumper from Apple [AAPL] look cheap in that this model costs $80 for the enclosure and for an extra $20 you get the V4Carbon back to insert on the back of your iPhone 4 to give it a different look and protect the back glass.